How come Lyta Alexander, a P5, interned with the Psi Cops

Question

At time index 20:40 of Season 2 Episode 19, Talia Winters says Lyta "interned with Psi Cops division".

Psi Cops are supposed to be the strongest telepaths, usually around P11-P12. How come Lyta interned with them, when she's only a P5?

Answer 1

Not everyone who works in the police department is a police officer.

There are all sorts of support and organisational functions in any non-trivial organisation that do not need an "officer".

Answer 2

P5 is the lowest rating you can have and be eligible for Psi Cop training. Talia mentions that she left Psi Cop investigations because she would be limited to background checks and witness scans. There are plenty of support positions sensitive enough to require "one of the family". As @Richard mentions, not everyone is a police officer.

Answer 3

This was addressed by B5 showrunner J. Michael Straczynski on the Midwinter website. In short, the PsiCorp has a wide range of jobs for all sorts of talent levels.

Didn't say [Lyta]* WAS a psi-cop, [Lyta] said she interned with the PsiCops. Bear in mind that you're going to need support staff, lower level liaisons, and a bunch of other positions as well as the actual cops.

_{^{JMS Speaks - Divided Loyalties}}

*_{The commentary notes that he has the names confused. Where I've marked [Lyta] he says Talia.}